News

Mar 14, 2024 - Appellant keeps British nationality after Court of Appeal overturns dishonesty finding

An appellant did not act dishonestly when he applied for British citizenship and answered ‘no’ when asked whether there was anything that might cast into doubt his good character. This was despite him being arrested four weeks after citizenship was granted and later pleading guilty to an offence that took place prior to the application.

This is the conclusion of Lord Justice Lewison, Lord Justice Green and Lady Justice Andrews in Hafiz Aman Ullah v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWCA Civ 201.

Background

Mr Ullah arrived in the UK in 2004, was granted indefinite leave to rema...

Mar 14, 2024 - Statement of immigration changes HC 590: salary thresholds increased and other changes

As we have previously stated in our news article on 30 January 2024 (available here), the UK government confirmed that the salary threshold for the Skilled Worker Visa as well as the minimum income threshold for spouse and family visas shall increase on 04 and 11 April 2024 respectively.

Skilled worker salary threshold

Namely, as regards the Skilled Worker Visa Category, employers must from 4 April 2024 pay those entering the skilled worker route a general salary threshold of £38,700 or the going rate for the role (also being raised, from the 25th percentile to the median), whichever is higher...

Mar 12, 2024 - Non-Dom Changes – FAQs

In his Budget of 6 March 2024, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced significant changes to the non-dom regime – effectively abolishing the need to reference domicile in tax law by replacing it with a residence based test for those who have not been UK tax resident in the last ten years (the concept of domicile still remains relevant to the drafting of Wills and the devolution of assets on death).

Much of the detail is not yet known, but affected taxpayers will have a number of questions and we seek to outline what we know so far in the FAQ sheet below. This sheet assumes the rules come into effect...

Mar 08, 2024 - UK Budget 2024 – what changes in taxation are proposed and expected

Following the 6th March 2024 announcement of the UK Spring Budget 2024, please see below the detailed review of the upcoming taxation changes and amendments.

Abolition Of The Non-Dom Status And The Remittance Basis Regime

After much speculation in this area, the Chancellor has taken the bold step to abolish the current non-UK domiciled tax regime from 6 April 2025.  There will be a limited replacement for individuals coming to the UK for the first four tax years of residence, to be known as the foreign income and gains (FIG) regime.

Many of the proposed rule changes outlined in the Budget are ...

Mar 07, 2024 - Britain's net migration set to rise by 315,000 annually

The UK’s net population is set to rise by 315,000 over the next five years.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) bumped its net migration forecasts from 240,000 to 315,000 for each year up to 2028 – an increase of 70,000 people, and a 28 per cent increase since its last forecast in autumn.

The figure takes into account people leaving the country, though the predictions fall a great deal lower than last year’s 670,000.

Migration Watch UK chairman Alp Mehmet said the updated forecast would mean the UK’s population would see an increase of nine million people by 2046, meaning it’s set to ri...

Mar 06, 2024 - UK Budget 2024: The non-dom tax status has been abolished

On 6 March 2024, the chancellor Jeremy Hunt has unveiled the UK Budget for 2024.

 

Budget 2024 – what changes in taxation are proposed and expected

Non-Dom Changes – FAQs

 

Here are the key points.

  1. On taxes

• National insurance contributions for employees are being cut from 10% to 8% from April - impacting about 27 million workers - with savings of up to £450 a year.

• National Insurance, a payroll tax, cut by 2p in the pound for employees and the self-employed.

• Self-employed NI rates will drop by two percentage points as well.

• Higher rate of property capital gains tax will be red...

Feb 27, 2024 - Changes to the rules as regards providing tuberculosis test for UK immigration

In most cases for a first UK entry visa (there are exceptions, for example, a tourist visa for any period or Ukrainian visa schemes) you need to provide a test confirming the absence of tuberculosis. The test is taken in one of the approved medical clinics, located in various countries of the world.

A valid tuberculosis certificate is required if the applicant was in the country or countries listed below by the link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-tuberculosis-tb

Previously under the old immigration rules, the applicant was not required to pass the tub...

Feb 20, 2024 - Hundreds of high-risk flights land in the UK unchecked

'High-risk' aircraft are landing in Britain without security checks in a major new immigration scandal.

The borders watchdog warned of 'dangerous' failings at a prominent London airport which potentially allowed thousands of passengers to evade passport controls.

Home Office data provided to Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Neal, showed the UK Border Force failed to check the occupants of hundreds of private jets arriving at just one airport last year.

Mr Neal voiced concerns the problem may be duplicated at other airports which handle private and chartered aircraf...

Feb 19, 2024 - The statement of changes in immigration rules presented to parliament on 19 February 2024 (HC 556)

The changes being made primarily concern changes to the Ukraine Family Scheme, Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, Ukraine Extension Scheme and to provisions for care workers and senior care workers on the Skilled Worker visa route.

The changes will be implemented on various dates from 19 February 2024.

Changes to the Ukraine visa schemes

  1. Closing the Ukraine Family Scheme

The Government has decided to close the Ukraine Family Scheme (UFS) to new applications with immediate effect to rationalise the offers for Ukrainians coming to the UK and improve the sustainability of the schemes pro...

Feb 18, 2024 - Ukraine visa schemes to be extended by 18 months

Ukrainians who came to the UK following the Russian invasion will be able to apply for 18-month extensions to their visas, the government has announced.

Since the invasion, the second anniversary of which is next week, some 200,200 Ukrainians and family members have come to the UK.

New arrivals were granted three years to remain, meaning the first visas were due to expire in March 2025.

It means those on the earliest visas can stay until at least September 2026.

The government said it would provide people with "certainty and stability".

The extension will apply to all three visa schemes set up...

← Prev Next →